Make That Drip Go Away

As a handyman I receive a lot of how-to questions, and in most cases after I have explained how-to, I am asked if I will do the job. A professional handyman not only makes repairs in your home but also provides another valuable service, called "knowledge and good counsel".

Her is an example of questions I receive:

Question;
The faucet in the shower is not completely turning off, any ideas? The faucet is one unit, a plastic ball that you turn right for hot, left for cold and down for off. It is the down part that is not quite working.I would appreciate any ideas.

Answer;
It is time to rebuild that faucet. The first thing you need to do is to determine the brand name of the faucet. There are two basic types of faucets, a washer-type and a ball type. By finding the brand name of the faucet, you can go to the hardware store and purchase a rebuild kit.
If your faucet is a ball type, most of these kits have instructions with them. This is not a very hard job to do, but first you need to make sure the water is off. If there is an access door behind the bathtub, you will see two shut-off valves one for the hot water and one for the cold water. You will need to turn both of them off before you start to take anything apart. If you do not have the access door, but you have a basement, you will fine the shut-off valves under the bathroom area in the basement. If you do not have either one of these, you will have to shut off the main water line, and then shut off the shut-off valves over the water heater.

Remember making your own repairs can be rewarding, but know your limitations, making a bad repair can cost a lot more to repair than the original problem. Don't forget that your local handyman is just a phone call away.

"Call Your Handyman and Take a Kid Fishing"